British children 'lack global awareness'

UK schoolchildren score lower than their peers in nine other countries in world knowledge, according to the British Council.

In a league table measuring the international outlook of young people around the world, British pupils scored slightly lower than those in the US and significantly lower than those in other European countries.

The survey asked 11 to 16-year-olds with household internet access in ten countries a range of questions to ascertain their attitudes towards language learning and international affairs.

Results were scored on an index of 0 to 7. Nigeria came top of the table with 5.15, followed by India and Brazil.

Within the UK, English schoolchildren (2.17) scored lowest compared with their counterparts in Scotland (2.35), Wales (2.43) and Northern Ireland (2.26).

British Council chief executive, Martin Davidson, said: "Our schoolchildren cannot afford to fall behind the rest of the world. For the UK to compete in a global economy, it is vital that we encourage our young people to have an interest in and engagement with the world around them.

"We believe passionately in enabling young people from different cultures to share ideas and opinions, and in the far reaching benefits this can bring to them in later life," he said.

According to the research, UK schoolchildren (32%) are the least likely to go out of their way to understand current events in the world. More than twice as many Brazilian (69%) and German children (61%) said they would do so, compared with a third of Scottish children.

When asked whether they saw themselves as citizens of the world or of their own country, most of the school children saw themselves first and foremost as world citizens. But children in the UK, US and Czech Republic saw themselves more as citizens of their own country.

Under three-quarters (70%) of UK school children felt that it was important to speak a foreign language for their future working life (65% in Scotland). This compared with 100% of schoolchildren in Saudi Arabia, 97% in Brazil and India, 85% in China and 73% in America.

The foreign language that the UK school children felt was most important to learn was French (40% of those naming a foreign language), followed by Spanish (31%), German (8%) and then Chinese (6%, rising to 9% in Scotland).

Within the UK, school children in Northern Ireland found Spanish the most important (52%) followed by French (38%), while the opposite was true in England, Scotland and Wales.

When asked which countries were the most powerful in the world today, the US came top, China second and the UK third. But when asked which countries would be the most powerful in ten years time, the UK slipped to fifth place.

A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said getting children to learn about the world and their place in it was "at the heart" of its action plan for geography.

"The geography curriculum is varied and interesting ensuring children learn about a range of countries and issues from across the planet," he said.

"The history curriculum teaches about major events in world history and how they have shaped the world we live in today. Most schools are twinned with schools abroad meaning they learn about children in other countries, with some even having joint lessons via satellite links.

"All pupils have an entitlement to learn a language at primary level and we will soon make this compulsory."